Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
A quick note on this: The academic community has been studying the
issue of game play and game mechanics fairly rigorously in recent years.
It is still a developing field of study, and is a bit of a moving target as the
rules of engagement with your game continue to change. However, if
you want to get serious about understanding what makes games fun and
how game mechanics can help this, there is an ever-increasing library
of research that explores this. In the long run, researching this literature
will be worth your while if you want to be a successful game designer or
mechanics engineer.
Level Designer:
Justifiably, this position has become more and more
prominent in the game production process. This designer creates the
environment in which the gameplay takes place. He works carefully with
the Game Designer and Mechanics Engineer to ensure that the space he
is designing both remains true to the vision of the designer and allows
the space for effective game mechanics. These designs are carefully
considered and designed and almost always begin with conceptual
sketches or paintings and detailed floor plans that lay out where puzzles,
challenges, pitfalls, and enemies appear or are interacted with.
Character Designer:
This is often one of the sexiest roles because this
person designs the characters. These characters are based upon the
goals defined in the Game Design Document, and almost always start on
paper with drawings. Conceptual sketches provide quick communication
devices before the considerable modeling time is undertaken. These
sketches also can provide a visceral response to a concept that often a
T-pose-modeled character lacks.
Animator or Motion Designer:
Animation is incredibly important in
games since it seems to be the thing that draws our attention. Ironically,
even complex games have a fairly limited collection of animations that
are cycled as the game is played. Some characters have as many as
100 different moves, but most have much, much less. The animator
will create in-game animations that are cycled, but will also often
be responsible for cut scenes and more “meaty” assignments where
traditional noncycled animation is used. Very large studios often will
have separate cinematic (cut scenes and intro animations) departments
that are creating higher-rez, prerendered animations.
Writer:
Due to strikes in recent years, there has been a migration (at least
temporarily) of film and television writers to the game industry. Writing
for games is certainly different than any other medium, and too often
people who have no business writing for games do so—and the results
are usually cliché at best or downright corny at worst. However, a good
writer can certainly assist in making a game experience more immersive
with believable and engaging dialog, narrative, on-screen elements (think
character correspondence or journals), and even in-game verbiage that
lets the player know what to do. Often the writer is used for only part of
the process since there is usually insufficient work to keep one occupied
through the entire production cycle.
